Some look at learning as a force, an interruption to the drudgery that daily life can prove itself to be, so much so that they keep honing in on it as an asset that can last a lifetime. It stops being about achieving an education for the purpose of landing a good career, and becomes more about initiating education as a means of personal development.
Meet Doris Cannataci, who is the embodiment of lifelong learning.
She took her first course in catering when her children were old enough to go to school. When they were about to start secondary school, she attended evening courses at the Alliance Française to brush up on her French. At 66 years of age, after retiring from work in 1998, she obtained her BA in Religious Studies after attending evening classes at the University of Malta. At 70 years, she graduated again with a Mastersâ degree in Theology. She successfully completed an MPhil in Theology at 78 years, also from the UM, and subsequently got her PhD in Theology at age 82 in 2014 at the Greenwich School of Theology in conjunction with North-West University of South Africa.
"Lifelong learning helps me exercise my mind and keep it lucid.,"
âLifelong learning is a concept that helps me exercise my mind and keep it lucid. It gives me an urge to keep on learning new things and do more research. Thereâs always something to learn and look forward toâ, she says of why lifelong learning is a useful life philosophy to hold on to.
She believes the idea to keep learning in difficult times, such as the ones being faced by everyone at present, is essential in helping us appreciate more the value of time.
When Doris was reading for her BA, right up to when she was doing her PhD, she was looking after her husband with cancer for 14 years. In 2001, she was operated for heart surgery, and underwent Thyroid surgery in 2008. All through these difficult times, learning was a constant force of positivism.
âIf I did not keep learning during World War II, I wouldnât have been able to continue with my studies later. Studying in difficult times helps you build a strong character,â she tells Newspoint, before quoting St Catherineâs âdo not wait for time because time will not wait for youâ.
"Studying in difficult times helps you build a strong character."
In fact, Doris chose to graduate in Theology because the object of Theologyâs scientific endeavour is God, the Creator of the natural world, thus making it both a human science and a natural science. She also studied Philosophy because, as she calls it, it is the ancilla (handmaid) of theology.
Her PhD in Theology did not signal the end of Dorisâ studying journey. For the last 6 years, she has been attending the Malta University of Third Age, twice a week, where she is currently learning Spanish. Other than there being no strain of having to do homework, she says, what she also looks forward to at U3A is the aspect of learning from retired professors and senior citizens.
Lecturers at U3A are a mine of information and have a great amount of knowledge to impart with others.
Just a few months after her husband passed away, soon after she submitted her PhD thesis, she set to writing a book about her unique life journey. âWhen my duties were over, I made up my mind to start going back in time. At first, I wrote down a few happy episodes of my life as part of my mourning therapy. The more I began to remember my past, the more peaceful I felt. I decided to publish my memoirs, a collection of the challenges Iâve been through and a first-hand account of how Malta has changed during the last decadesâ. Her book, âI remember, I remember ⊠years gone byâ, is an inspiration to the young, the old, and everyone in between.
Keep studying, even if for personal development!
âMy advice to people who are younger than me, and perhaps are still raising a family, is to keep studying for personal development, and to make time for themselves and their educationâ, Doris encourages Newspoint readers. Owing whatever success she had in life to faith and prayer, she clearly articulates her motto in life, which is âWhere there is a will, there is a way!â